Combined respirator and face shield



April 3, 1956 w. B. WKNES COMBINED RESPIRATOR AND FACE SHIELD FiledApril 30, 1954 /NVENTOR W8. W/NES ATTORNEV COMBINED RESPIRATOR AND FACESHIELD William B. Wines, Towson, Md., assignor to Western ElectricCompany, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication April 30, 1954, Serial No. 426,767

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-146) This invention relates to a combined respiratorand face shield, and more particularly to a combined respirator'and faceshield, the principal elements of which are readily detachable andinterchangeable.

In certain industrial processes, such as metal plating processes,wherein baths of corrosive chemicals are employed, it is essential thatoperators working in the vicinity of such baths be protected from theharmful effects of the noxious fumes in the atmosphere. It is alsoessential that the faces of the Workers be protected from accidentalsplashing of the chemicals which might cause serious injuries to theeyes-and the skin of the workers.

Respirators provided with face shields heretofore known have been foundto be not entirely satisfactory. Some of the grounds for dissatisfactionwith previous equipment include the failure to provide adequateprotection for exposed facial areas, excessive bulkiness resulting inextreme discomfort to the wearer, serious limitations in the angle ofvision giving rise to acute safety problems, a lack of adequateventilation, the necessity for a bespectacled wearer to remove hisprescription glasses in order to wear the respirator and face shield,and the difficulty in replacing face shields which become permanentlyfogged or otherwise damaged.

A combined respirator and face shield illustrating certain features ofthe invention, may include a face piece adapted to be positioned overthe mouth and nose of a wearer, a filter receptacle secured to the facepiece, a face shield formed from a stiff, transparent plastic materialand designed to extend over the face and about the checks of a wearer.The face shield may have a aperture formed therein, and a filtercartridge may be inserted through the aperture in the face shield andconnected to the filter receptacle so that the filter cartridge securesthe face shield fixedly to the face piece.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when read inconjunction with the appended drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a combined respirator and face shieldforming a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in position onthe face of a wearer;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the combined respirator and face shieldwith the head straps broken away for convenience of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the combined respirator and face shieldwith the head straps broken away for the convenience of illustration,and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 of Fig.2, with parts thereof broken away for clarity.

Referring now to the drawing, the illustrative embodiment of theinvention includes a respirator of more or less conventional design,similar to one disclosed in Patent 2,578,621, granted December 11, 1951,to W. P. Yant. The respirator 10 is provided with a face piece 11 madeof rubber or other suitable impervious, flexible material, which isgenerally triangular in shape. The wide lower 2,740,400 Patented Apr 2 Ip l portion of the face piece 11 is designed, to cover the mouth and"chin of the wearer, while the upwardly tapered upperportion thereof isshaped to receive the wearer's nose.

Projecting angularly from opposite sides of the lowerpon tion of theface piece are internally threaded, metal filter receptacles 13-13 whichare secured fixedly at their bases 15-15 to the face piece 11 aroundeach of two inlet openings (not shown) formed in the face piece. Thethreaded filter receptacles 13-13 have openings provided in their bases15-15 communicating with the inlet openings formed in the face piece. Asshown in Fig. 4, each of the filter receptacles 13-13 is adapted tothreadedly receive an externally threaded, reduced shank portion 1.7extending from a cylindrical casing 19 forming a part of a removablefilter cartridge '20. The filter cartridge 20 is provided with aconventional filter material (not shown) designed to prevent the passagetherethrough of deleterious fumes or particles.

All of the air which is inhaled by the wearer is drawn through thefilter cartridges 20-20. Suitable inhalation flutter valves (not shown)are provided in the inlet openings in the face piece 11 to prevent theair exhaled by the wearer from exiting through the filter cartridges 20-20. At the bottom of the face piece 11 is an outlet 22- provided with asuitable exhalation flutter valve (not shown) through which the airexhaled by the wearer is exhausted to the atmosphere. The respirator 10is held in place on the head of the wearer by means of head straps 24-24and 25-25 which are riveted to the bases 15-15 of the filter receptacles13-13.

A face shield 21, molded in one piece of a transparent plastic material,such as methyl rnethacrylate, cellulose acetate, or the like, is adaptedto be detachably mounted on the respirator 10. For the purpose of thisdescription, the face shield 21 may be divided into three integrallymolded sections, namely a main shield 26, a chin protector 27 and acrown portion 28. The main sh-ield 26 is generally semicircular in crosssection to extend over the face and about the checks of the wearer. Thechin protector 27 is formed integrally with the lower portion of themain shield 26 and extends obliquely in a down ward and inward directionfrom its intersection with the main shield. The crown portion 28, whichis generally semicircular in cross section, is formed integrally withthe upper portion of the main shield 26 and extends-obliquely in anupward and inward direction from its intersection with the main shield.Y

The surfaces of the main shield 26 are curved except for two verticallyextending flat portions 30-30. The flat portions 30-30 are space equaldistan e on either side of an im inary c n r l n dr n v rtica ly throu eenter of the face hield, as viewe in Fig- 1,. and extend about halfwayup the main shield from their intersections with the chin protector 27.Each of the fiat portions 30-30 has a width slightly greater than thediameter of the externally threaded shank portions 17-17 of the filtercartridges 20-20.

Each of the fiat portions 30-30 is provided with a circular aperture 33.The circular apertures 33-33 are designed to receive closely thecylindrical shank portions 17-17 when the latter are threadedly receivedwithin their associated filter receptacles 13-13 on the respirator 10.In assembling the combined respirator and face shield, the threadedshank portions 17-17 of the filter cartridges 20-20 are inserted throughthe respective apertures 33-33 in the face shield 11 and then arethreaded into their associated filter receptacles 13-13 on therespirator 10. As a filter cartridge 20 is threaded into its filterreceptacle 13 its casing 19 is drawn up against the edges of theaperture 33 in the face shield 21 and urges them tightly against aflanged lip 35 (Fig. 4) formed on the filter receptacle. With the filtercartridges 20-20 3 threaded tightly within the filter receptaclesIii-13, the face shield 21 is supported rigidly on the shank portions17-17. The flat portions 3030 of the main shield 26 are disposed inplanes perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axes of thereceptacles 13-43, thereby permitting a fiush fit between the flangedlips 35-435 and the inner surfaces of the fiat portions 30-30.

Thus, the face shield 21 is supported entirely by the respirator in aposition such that the surfaces of the main shield 26 extend generallyvertically from a level slightly above the eyebrows of the wearer to alevel some what below the chin. The crown portion 28, extending upwardlyand inwardly, follows generally the sloping contour of the wearersforehead. .The chin protector 27,

extending downwardly and inwardly, shields the outlet 22 and providessubstantial protection to the chin and adjacent neck portions of thewearer.

. Because of the novel manner in which the face shield 21 is mounted, itis spaced from the face of the wearer by an amount sufficient to affordadequate ventilation and to permit the concurrent use of prescriptionglasses without interference. Substantially all of the normally exposedfacial areas of the wearer are protected against splashing. The chinprotector 27 serves the function of protecting the chin and neck and isespecially important since this is a very vulnerable area when anoperator is working over the tanks of corrosive solutions.

One of the most important features of the invention is the facility withwhich the face shield 21 may be rapidly detached from the respirator andinterchanged with another face shield should it become fogged, scratchedor otherwise damaged. Likewise, a new respirator may be substituted forthe one on a shield with equal facility. Bymerely removing the threadedfilter cartridges 20 from the filter receptacles 13-13 on the respirator10, theface shield 21 and the respirator may be separated, and theneeded element may then be replaced.

It will be understood that various modifications of the above-described,illustrative embodiment of the invention may be made within the spiritand scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A combined respirator and face shield, which comprises a face piecedesigned to be positioned over the mouth and nose of a wearer, a pair offilter receptacles secured symmetrically one to each side of the facepiece, each of said receptacles projecting substantially horizontallyoutwardly from the face piece and having a threaded cylindrical opening,the mouth of which is surrounded by a lip, a face shield formed from astifi, transparent, plastic material and designed to extend over theface and about the cheeks of the wearer, said face shield being providedwith a pair of spaced circular apertures arranged symmetrically one oneach side of the face shield in alignment with the openings in thefilter receptacles and designed to match said openings closely, a pairof filter cartridges having reduced threaded portions which extendthrough the respective apertures in the face shield and are threadedinto the corresponding openings in filter receptacles so as to urge theportions of the face shield immediately adjacent to the aperturestightly against the lips provided on the lter receptacles whereby theface shield is attached removably to the face piece and is supportedthereby substantially vertically in spaced relation to the faceof thewearer.

2. A combined respirator and face shield, which comprises a res iratorface piece designed to be positioned over the mouth and nose of awearer, straps attached to the face piece for detachably securing thefacepiece to the head of the wearer, a pair of filter receptaclesmounted symmetrically one to each side of the face piece, each of saidreceptacles projecting substantially horizontally outwardly from theface piece and having a threaded cylindrical opening formed therein, themouth of the opening being surrounded by a flanged lip, a face shieldformed from a stiff transparent plastic material and comprising arelatively large intermediate portion which is configurated so as toextend over the face and about the cheeks of the wearer, a chinprotector portion formed integrally with the intermediate portion anddesigned to extend obliquely from the lower part of the intermediateportion in a downward and inward direction to protect the chin andadjacent portions of the neck of the wearer and a crown portion formedintegrally with the intermediate portion and designed to extend from theupper part of the intermediate portion in an upward and inward directionto protect the forehead of the wearer, said intermediate portion of theface shield having a pair of spaced circular apertures arrangedsymmetrically one on each side thereof in alignment with the openings inthe filter receptacles, a pair of filter cartridges provided with re-'duced threaded portions which extend closely through the respectiveapertures in the face shield and are received threadedly withincorresponding openings in the filter receptacles so as to urge the edgesof the openings tightly against the lips on the filter receptacleswhereby the face shield is attached removably to the face piece and issupported firmly thereby with the intermediate portion of the face piecepositioned substantially vertically and spaced from the face of thewearer.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,056,027 Tracey Sept. 29, 1936 2,320,770 Cover June 6, 1943 2,462,005Schauwerker Feb. 15, 1949 2,578,621 Yant Dec. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS759,584 France Nov. 23, 1933 835,209 France Sept. 19, 1938

